ConnectEd: Academia meets Companies - onside event at the GFZ

This event marks the success of the pilot Leap-In Internship program  coordinated by the GFZ Career Center!

In 2023/24, seven postdoctoral researchers from the GFZ received funding for a 3-month, fully-paid internship at a company of their preference. The benefits of this program were wide ranging, from an exchange of methods and techniques, to an increased understanding of how research and industry connections can be established.

We invite you to participate in an engaging program designed to mark the success of the internship program. Join us as we highlight the importance of collaborative connections and maintaining relationships between researchers and companies.

Networking Workshop
Building a network and making strong connections with people, and companies, who you hope to work or collaborate with is an essential part of the current professional landscape. In this workshop you will receive guidance and feedback on how to create an impactful first impression at networking events, you Elevator Pitch. We will also discuss how to make the most out of the brief encounters you have with people of professional interest, Information Interview Training. The skills acquired in this workshop will be applicable for the 1:1 match making meetings, round tables and industry fair later in the day. All researchers at the GFZ are invited to participate in this interactive workshop.

Bianca Praetorius will give this interesting workshop: she is a trained actress who spend the last 10 years helping 2000+ Tech Startups to pitch better. She also trains individuals to give inspiring Ted Talks about the future of X. Think Visionaries, Politics, Entrepreneurs. Bold storytelling, tender delivery.

Match Making Meetings
Do you have a special interest in one of the companies attending the industry day? Would you like to work with this company or collaborate on a project? Each company attending the Industry Day offers, up to three, 30 minute 1:1 meetings, where selected researchers have the opportunity to discuss their ideas in an uninterrupted setting.

Application:
If you would like to be considered for a 1:1 meeting with a company attending the Industry Day, please include this information in your registration form, including your motivation for the meeting. You will be informed prior to the event if you have been selected, including the time and location of your meeting. Profiles of all of the companies attending this industry day can be found on the website.

Round Table Networking
Would you like to learn more about a specific industry or company? Do you want to know what the possible job positions could be or how the work in industry differs to an academic setting? In this round table networking format you will have the opportunity to ask all of your questions to industry experts and GFZ researchers who recently completed internships at these companies. Each round table will be 30 minutes, with a representative from a company, GFZ intern (where relevant) and space for 6 GFZ researchers

Registration
If you would like to take part in a round table networking, please indicate this in your registration. Profiles of all of the companies attending this industry day can be found on the website.

Company Fair
During the Company Fair you will have the opportunity for informal networking with the all of the companies represented at the ConnectEd Day, representatives from the GFZ Transfer and Innovation and GFZ Career Center. This is an opportunity to make those final connections, practice the skills your learnt in the morning workshop. The Career Center will also offer a CV Check service during this time.

Buro Happold is an international, integrated consultancy of engineers and scientists, designers, and advisers.  Our projects focus on the built environment, from the building scale to the city scale. Within the sustainability team, our overarching goal is to help our clients find creative and sustainable solutions that address their needs and challenges.

DiGOS is a system integrator in the domain of geophysical & geodetic observation systems. We are an interdisciplinary team of computer scientist, engineers, geophysicists, mechatronics and affiliated experts with unique technical expertise. We offer turnkey laser ranging ground stations for high-precision tracking of satellites and space debris as well as optical ground stations for laser communication with satellites. In the geophysical domain DiGOS is a well-established manufacturer of seismic data recorders for classic seismometers, geophones or infrasound sensors. In the near future DiGOS will extend its portfolio by a Distributes Acoustic & Temperature Sensing (DAS & DTS) device with unique capabilities for geophysical & infrastructure monitoring.

Licht | Raum | Stadt - we are a lighting design office based in Wuppertal and Karlsruhe. Since its foundation in 2001 by Uwe Knappschneider and Sonja Dinnebier, we have successfully planned and realised more than 300 national and international projects with a highly efficient and interdisciplinary team. In addition to co-operations in the fields of architecture and landscape architecture, clients also include public bodies such as federal states, cities, municipalities and local authorities. We specialise in the creation of master plans for the development of functional and architectural lighting in cities, the creation of individual nocturnal scenes in public space s and the design and planning of high-quality lighting for interiors.

Christopher Kyba is doing an internship with this company - have a look about the interesting connection here between science and industry.

FIELAX offers scientific-technical services and products for research and shipping. These are operation and production of marine technology, installation and maintenance of research platforms, processing and upvaluation of scientific datasets as well as customized software development. Our clients are major national and international research institutes, universities, operators of research vessels, public authorities and offshore-/exploration companies.

LiveEO uses artificial intelligence to generate actionable insights from satellite data to make business processes more sustainable, safer, and more efficient. LiveEO’s products are in use with operators of critical infrastructure on all continents to make their networks more resilient against the effects of climate change and minimize the need for more carbon-intensive monitoring approaches. LiveEO international team of 120+ employees is distributed across Berlin, New York, the UK, and Latvia. To learn more, visit LiveEO | Satellite-Based Infrastructure Monitoring and follow LiveEO on Linkedin.

Mapular is an innovative company specializing in the development of custom geospatial solutions, leveraging a unique blend of geography, environmental science, and information technology expertise. The company's mission centers on empowering organizations by transforming complex geospatial data into actionable insights. Through the use of advanced custom solutions and cutting-edge GeoAI, Mapular is dedicated to enhancing the accessibility and utility of geospatial technology across various sectors. This commitment is rooted in a deep understanding of both the theoretical aspects of geography and the practical applications of modern technology.

MSCI - with over 50 years of expertise in research, data and technology, MSCI enables clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. Clients use industry-leading, research-enhanced solutions to gain insight into and improve the investment process.

Terranta provides a range of innovative software technologies and services for geological process modeling. Modeling the thermal and mechanical subsurface properties and combining them to our reactive flow simulator, our workflows and applications are designed to support geoscientific challenges to fuel the energy transition. From our chemical modeling software, TerrantaLab, to our full 3D reactive flow software, TerrantaFlow, our suite of software tools enables you to develop detailed models of the geological system controlling mineralization, and to predict deposit types, sizes, and quality. Natural Hydrogen can become the new natural gas as we are starting to understand the hydrogen systems in more detail.

Umweltbundesamt: For our environment" is the motto of the Federal Environment Agency - UBA for short. As Germany's central environment authority, we ensure that there is a healthy environment in Germany in which people can live as far as possible protected from harmful environmental impacts. Our range of topics is broad - from waste prevention and climate protection to the authorisation of plant protection products.

UP42 is changing the way geospatial data is accessed and analyzed. Our developer platform and marketplace bring together multiple sources of data such as satellite imagery, weather data, and more — with algorithms to identify objects, detect change, and find patterns. Industry leaders use UP42 to inform business decisions and build scalable customer solutions.